Garment holder, folder, supporter, and box strengthener



May 12, 1931.v J HART 1,805,363

GARMENT HOLDER, FOLDER, SUPPORTER, AND BOX STRENGTHENER Filed Nov. 28, 1928 ill Patented May 12, 1931 JOHN HART, OF UNION CTY, NEW JERSEY Application filed November 28, 1928.

This invention relates to improvements. in garment containers or botes and more pc ticularly to bor-:es such as are employed in delivering garments to purchasers and the invention has as its general object to provide a container which will present advanta'i s over such containers as have heretofore been employed and likewise overcome the disadvantages attending their use.

delivering articles of wearing apparel such for example as dresses, suits, and cioaks, it is customary to fold the garment and dispose the same within an oblong rectangular box of cardboard and then tie a cord about i5 the boxv and its cover, but, in transit7 the box is liable to be tossed about and ir not infrequently happens that the purchaser, upon opening the box, will nd the garment has shifted bodily to one end of the box and become wrinkled and crumplech or it is otherwise so disarranged that it is practically unlit for wear until it has been pressed. Such shifting of the garment is also lia-ble to cause bulging and possibly breaking of the walls of the box with possible dama-ge to the garment. In view of these disadvantages which are presented by the ordinary box, the invention has as its primary Obect to provide a box so constructed that it will overcome all of these disadvantages and provide for the delivery of a garment in precisely the folder condition in which it was arranged in the bei; in the merchants establishment so that when the purchaser receives the garment packed in the box and opens the box, the garment will be found to be in properly and smoothly folded condition and ready for weer.

Another object of the invention is to provide. in combination with the ordinary pasteboard or cardboard bei; for containingl garments, a simple and inexpensive means for ready assemblage with the side walls of the body of the bof: to relatively brace these walls and primarily to so coact with a. folded garment, arranged within the box, as to hold the garment in its folded condition and also prevent its displacement within the bei; in a manner to cause disarrangcmnt of the garment or a wrinlrling or creasing thereof in :in undesirable manner.

Serial No. 322,412.

Another object of the'invention is to provide a garment retaining means such as that referred to above which may be readily applied to and adjusted upon the opposite side walls of the ordinary box so as to suitably engage garments of different liinds and different sizes and folded in different manners, thereby rendering the means universally applicable to bones to contain various garments.

Anotherobjectofthe invention is to so construct the retaining means that it will constitute a highly eflicient bracing means for the side walls of the boi; so as to maintain these walls in properly spaced relation to each other and prevent any inward bulging or collapsing of the walls due to the impact of objects with the box or careless handling of the box to bring the, same. into forceful Contact with other objects.

Thilo the accompanying` drawings and the description which is to follow, constitute a disclosure of the preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that various changes may be made within the scope of what is claimed.

In the accompanying` drawings:

Figure l is view illustrating the retaining means embodying the invention and the ianner of its use, the box and garment and the retaining means being` shown in top plan and the rover of the bof; beingl shown in horizontal section.

Figure 2 is a vert-ical longitudinal sectional view taken substantially on the line 2 2 of Figure l looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken substantially on the line 3 3 of Figure l looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Figure l is a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantially on the line 4 -4 of Figure 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Figure 5 is a similar view taken on tho line 5 5 of Figure 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Figure G is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale similar to Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a. sectional perspective view of one end of the one of the retaining,l members.

Figure 8 is a similar view of one end of the other member.

So far as the present invention is concerned, the container proper may be identical with the ordinary box and lid in. which garments are transmitted from the dealer to his trade and in the drawing the body of the boi; is indicated in general by the numeral l and includes the usual side walls 2, the cover of the box being1f indicated by the numeral 3 and including the usual depending side walls il: which are of substantially the saine depth as the walls 2 of the body l and which, in the applied position of the cover, extend downwardly beside the outer faces of the said side walls 2 of the body of the box. As previously stated, it is customary, in usingl a boi; of this type, to fold the garment in the most convenient way and disposed the same within the box but, so far as l am aware, no means has heretofore been employed for maintaining the garment in its folded condition and against displacement within the box, whereas the present invention contemplates the provision of a means for this purpose which will now be described.

The means referred to above preferably comprises a pair of retaining members which are adapted to be assembled with the walls of the body of the bor; and each of which includes a garment engaging part and means at the ends thereof for frictional adjustable engagement with the side walls of the bodj ot' the box, and in the drawing` one of these taining members is indicated in general by the num-eral 5 and the other in general by the numeral 6, the members beine,T nearly of counterpart construction although they differ slightly in the means for anchoring;l them to the side walls of the bo(l y ofthe bo. nd likewise in their purpose, the member 5 serving a dual function as will prese1 The members 5 and G are to n fi i which is resilient and comp A intermediate portion which constitutes a armeut engaging member indicated by the numoral 7 and which is of a "ngi-th e-:pial substantially to the interior wie..LA of the body o' the boia. The strand. of wire from which 'the member 5 is formed, is formed to provide a bend 8 at each end of its garment engaaiue; portion 7 and, above this bend, to form a second bend indicated bv the numeral S), tne end portion of the strand, above the bend 5), being looped laterally outwardly as .at l0 and thence bent to provide a downwardly ei:- tending shank portion 1l which is stra f This shank portion l1 terminates at its lo end in a closed coil 12 formed by spiraliy winding the terminal portion of the wire to form a closed coil and disposing the coil in the same plane as the shank ll and at one side of said shank, it being observed by a comparison of Fifrures l and 2 of the fbfawing,`

and likewise from Figure 7 that the portions of the strand in which the bends 8 and 9 are formed are located in the same vertical transverse plane with the respective shank ll and that the garment engagin portion 7 is likewise located in this plane.

By reference to Figures 5 and C of the drawing it will be observed that each portion of the member in which the bends o and 9 is formed has its bends 8 and 9 equidistantly spaced from the respective shank 11 and closed coil 2 and this spacing is comparatively slight so that when this member is assembled with the box body by having its clamping` ends comprising` the bends 8 and 9 and the shank 11 and coil 12, fitted down over the upper edges of the side walls of the body of the bei: near one end thereof, these clampingport-ions will firmly bind against and clamp the wall of the box as will be evident by reference to said figures and there fore tl e member 5 will be securely held assembled wi-n the walls 2 of the box.

lt will be understood at this point that the member 5 may be bodily adjusted longiilly with respect to the body of the box pine,l members at the ends ,.9 rment en aging portion '7, along the i de walls of the a body and that when the device is properly pos'tioned, the upper edges et' the side walls Q o'" the box body will enana-f! in the looped bends 10 thus determin- K; the distance at which the portion 7 of the device will be spaced below the upper edges et the side walls 2 or, viewed in another light, :drove the bottom of the box body, and by 1@ference to Fieures 3, 5 and G it will be obu. ved that the portion 7 is located substan- Vajially midway of the depth of the body of the box or, in other words, substantially midway "a een the bottom of 'the bop: body and th upper edges of the side walls 2 thereof, and the purpose of thus proportioning the parts of the retaining member 5 will presently be specifically pointed out. I

'lhe e'arn'ient retaining member G is. as prei'ii'iusly stated, nearly identical with the member and includes a garment engagingI member 18 which is straight throughout its length and eorresoonds to the member 7. the strand of resilient wire from which the member G formed being bent up at right angles at the ends of the portion i3 as indicatcdlbv the neral 14 and provided with a looped bend l5 corresponding substantially to the looped bend l0 ofthe member 5, each remain- ;in e' end portion being; bent downwardly from bend l5 to provide shank 16 correspondin 5r to the shank 1l and thence bent to provide a closed coil 17 corresponding; to the closed oil l2 and offs-ct with respect to the shank G in precisely the saine manner that the coil Q is o fset with respect to the shank l1.

At this point it will be evident and particularly by reference to Figure 4E of the drawing recetas that the bend 14 at each end of the portion 13 of the member 6 bears frIct-ionally against the inner side of the walls 2 of the box body p arts of both forms oi tne retaining member, and the associated downwardly extending shanks and closed coils, constitute efficient means for holding the garment retaining members assembled with the side walls o-f the body of the box. lt will also be observed that in the instance of the garment retaining member 6 there is an absence of a bend corresponding to the bend 9 of the retaining member 5 and it will be observed b v reference to Figure t and likewise to Figure 3 that the garment engaging portion 13 of the member 6 is spaced above the bottom of the box body a distance greater than is the garment engaging portion 7 of the retaining member 5 and therefore the single bend 1d and shanlr 16 and closed coil 17 each end of the portion 13 of the member 6 constitutes a sufficiently effective clamping means for coa-ction with the side walls of the box to hold the retaining member 6 assembled there-` with.

Figures 1, 3, 1l and 5 illustrate clearly the manner in which the garment retaining members 5 and 6 are employed and it will be` understood by reference to .these figures that, in the use of the retaining members, the garment or more specifically substantially onehalf thereof is first laid in the body of the box upon the bottom of said body after which the member 5 is assembled with the side Walls of the box body with the garment engaging port-ion 7 thereof extending transversely above and in relatively firm engagement with the portion of the garment which has been laid within the box body, on a straight line i transversely of said portion which is near the fold. The fold, referred to in the garment, is indicated by the reference letter F in Figures 1 and 3 of the drawing and by reference to Figure 1 it will be seen that this fold is located substantially at one end of the body of the box and that the member 5 is of course positioned so as to engage within this fold, and inasmuch as the clamping means at the ends of the garment engaging portion 7 of the member 5 firmly grip the .side walls of the box. displacement of the fold F in the garment within the body of the box to any appreciable extent is prevented. After the member 5 has been arranged in place in the manner just described, the other portion of the garment is laid over the first mentioned position and within the. body of the box. and the ,member 5 is then assembled with the side walls of the box body and with its garment engaging portion 13 extending transversely across and bearing upon the free portion of the last mentioned foldof the garment near its end as illustrated clearly in Figures 3 and 4 of the drawing. It will now be evident that inasmuch as the retaining members prevent any displacement of the garment with respect to the bottom of the box body there can be no displacement or disarrange-ment of the garment such as would cause ivrinlrling or creasing thereof.

`While the clamping means for holding the members fixed with respect to the side walls of the body of the box, as illustrated in the drawings, is a simple and desirable one, it will be understood of course that the invention resides primarily in the arrangement, by a means having adjustable clamping en gagement withA the side walls of a: box body, of a garment engaging mem er supported in this manner within the body and ei-:tending transversely thereof to engage a garment folded and disclosed within the body and in a. manner to prevent disarrangement of the rment. rlfherefore the attaching and clamping means at the ends of the garment engaging members of the retaining devices may be considered as consisting of clamping portions for cooperation frictionally with the inner and outer faces of the side walls of the box and the inner ones of said members supporting the retaining member in position in spaced relation to the bottom of the box body.

lt will also be evident from the foregoing description of the invention and from an inspection of the drawing that the provision of the closed coils to constitute the outer members of the clamps provides for reinforcement of the side walls of the body of the box so as to prevent piercing of these walls by the bends of the inner members of the clamps, and likewise, due to the additional area of the contacting surfaces afforded by the closed coils, a frictional engagement of the members of the clamps with the side walls of the box body sufficient to insure against displacement of the garment retaining members, insured. Furthermore this formation of the outer members of the clamps and the location of the closed coils in the same vertical plane as the Shanks at the lower ends of which they are formed, permits of the application of the cover to the box and its removal therefrom without any interference on the part of the retaining devices embodying the invention.

It will be understood of course that the retaining members 5 and' may be of metal, fiber, cardboard, paper, or any other material found suitable for the purpose without departing from the spirit of the invention'.

Having' thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. Means for retaining a garment against displacement within a garment box comprising a garment engaging member comprising bij a length of reeilient wire to extend fici-oss the interior ol'- the box in engagement with :i garment arranged therewithin7 the member having upstzlnding terminal portions each provided with a bend to frictionally engage the inner side of one of two opposite walls of the body of the box and L downward ezitein Sion connected by :1n intermediate bend will the upward extension and having n closed @oil to frictionnlly engage the onter side of the well straddled by the upward und down- 'werd extensions.

2. Means for retaining L garment against displacement within :i garment box, comprising :1, garnie-nt engaging member to extend across the interior of the bei; in retaining engagement with e garment within the box, and substantially inverted U-slmped loops adapted to overhang the upper edges of the respective opposite walls of the bex e' d engaging the inner and outer feces of the respective Walls for removably supporting the member in a proper position.

In testimony whereof I my signature.

JOHN HART. 

